United States Army Air Force
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force. The AAF was a component of the United States Army, which in 1942 was divided functionally by executive order into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces, the Services of Supply (which in 1943 became the Army Service Forces), and the AAF. Each of these forces had a commanding general who reported directly to the Chief of Staff of the United States Army. The AAF controlled all parts of military aviation formerly distributed among the Air Corps, General Headquarters Air Force, and ground forces corps area commanders, and thus became the first air organization of the U.S. Army to control its own installations. The USAAF remained a part of the United States Army until the United States Air Force came into being in September 1947. United States Army Air Force in Days of Infamy The USAAF received a rude shock when the Japanese entered World War II on December 7, 1941, when all their planes were destroyed on the ground in both Hawaii and the Philippines. They were constantly beaten back across the Pacific all the way to Australia and North America. Throughout 1942 and 1943, the USAAF battle for control of the skies over Australia, and against Japanese reconnaissance aircraft which scoured the American west coast, from Seattle to Panama. By the beginning of 1943, the USAAF home defense fighters had perfected their night fighting capabilities, making it harder, but not impossible for the Japanese to get an accurate picture of the new American fleet that was building up on the west coast. Further south, despite the Japanese cutting the supply lines to Australia, the USAAF was still able to get more aircraft, wresting superiority of the air away from the Japanese and taking to the offensive, bombing the southern coast of New Guinea as heavily as they could. After the Navy's victory in the North Pacific, bombers of the USAAF launched a daring day time raid on the islands that destroyed the Japanese carrier, ''Zuikaku''. After US Forces landed on the islands, they continued to provide air support, along with defense for the islands after the Japanese were pushed back to Midway. United States Army Air Force in The War That Came Early The USAAF first saw major action in the Philippines when Japan invaded that country in early 1941. Equipped with outdated aircraft, the USAAF suffered heavy losses and quickly lost control of the skies. After the navy's defeat at Wake Island, the USAAF began to fortify the Hawaiian islands with fighters, bombers, and reconnaissance aircraft, turning the islands into an unsinkable aircraft carrier. United States Army Air Force in Worldwar The USAAF had been engaged with elements of the German and Japanese air forces when the Race invaded in mid 1942. Like all air forces, they were quickly knocked onto the defensive against the Race's more advanced aircraft, but still kept up the attack, reserving most of their air craft for VIP transport, or CAS duties and interception mission during big offensives. By the wars end, Race killercraft pilots who fought them considered them to be the toughest air force on Tosev 3, but males who flew against the RAF strongly disagreed, as did those who had fought the pilots of the Luftwaffe. However, their lower level of technology was outdated and primitive by the standards of the Race. This meant lower life expectancy of the pilots, who measured their lives in hours. After the Peace of Cairo, the Air Force was modernized and subsequently re-organized into the United States Air and Space Force. See Also *United States Air Force, successor of the USAAF in OTL. *United States Air and Space Force, the successor of the USAAF in Worldwar. Category:United States Army Category:Days of Infamy Category:The War That Came Early Category:Worldwar Category:United States Military